Desra Percaya

Desra Percaya was appointed ambassador and permanent representative of the Republic of Indonesia to the United Nations in New York in February 2012. He was elected chair of the United Nation's First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) on 4 September 2013.[1] Percaya has also served as Vice-President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Co-facilitator on human rights treaty bodies, Chairman of the NAM Working Group on Disarmament, vice-chair of the UN Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, and vice-chair of the UN Committee on Decolonization.[2]

Percaya was previously Indonesia's deputy permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Switzerland. Before this he was Director of International Security and Disarmament in the Directorate of Multilateral Affairs in Jakarta between 2007 and 2009. He first joined Indonesia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1986.[1]

Percaya received a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences at Airlangga University in Surabaya, Indonesia. He was awarded a master's degree in International Studies (Diplomacy) in 1995 by Birmingham University. He completed his PhD at Durham University. He was awarded the honorary degree of the Doctor of the University (DUniv) by the University of Birmingham in 2014. Percaya was born in Malang on 20 April 1961 from Sundanese parents. He is married and has two children. Namely Asteya Prima Percaya, Muhammad Dwi Aditya Percaya.[3]